𝗘𝗩𝗘𝗥𝗬𝗢𝗡𝗘 𝗖𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗧𝗘𝗦 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗬 𝗗𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗗.
Charlie Stark-Rogers has grown up in the shadow of the world's greatest heroes. But spending your entire life in the face of danger takes its toll on anyone. She has secrets, thi...
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𝐁𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐆𝐄𝐓𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐃𝐄𝐑.
Charlie didn't know if it was just anxiety, or if blood was filling her lungs faster than she thought it would, or maybe the wind attacking her face as Tony flew them to the Helicarriers.
Whatever the cause was, it certainly wasn't helping Charlie think.
She had to get to Steve, warn him what Pierce had done- the Barnes were going to come back with no memories, no recollection of how much they were loved, or the small bit of progress they had made in remembering they were human-
"Their full potential", Pierce had said. If the ghost stories Natasha had told her about the Winter Soldier and the Asset were true-
They'd toppled regimes. They'd been credited with over two dozen assassinations in the past fifty years- but Charlie had no doubt there were hundreds of others.
They were going to kill her Pops.
Tony and Charlie had just about reached the Helicarriers now. The wind had whipped Charlie's hair into a tangled mess, getting stuck to the blood matted on her face.
And she couldn't breathe.
She was thankful Tony likely couldn't hear anything inside the suit, because then wheezing noise her lungs had started to make- like air trying to come through a straw- would make anyone stop and turn.
Just make it to Pops.
God, please, just let me make it to Pops.
Charlie closed her eyes, just trying to focus on the feel of Tony's familiar cool metal suit under her legs and holding her back. She was tired- God, she was so tired - and part of her wanted to just let herself suffocate, to just give up and let someone else deal with the world.
But she couldn't. She had a job to do.
And she was damn well going to do it; her dads had taught her that much.
Tony made a sudden turn and Charlie sucked in a breath as her ribs shifted, a few pained tears slipping over her pursed lips. Through her blurry eyes she could make out the rows of massive engines, whirring impossibly loudly as Tony approached, twenty feet away, then ten-
Then about five feet away, Tony's body language changed completely. Charlie had just enough time to look at him in confusion before Tony flew into a gap between the motors, heading straight for the ground as the suit made a horrifying shuddering noise.
"Shit!" Charlie realized what was going to happen a second before it happened. She bent her knees slightly, preparing for impact before Tony dropped her less than a foot.
The glass pane under Charlie's legs vibrated slightly as she fell, catching herself awkwardly on her uninjured side.
"Ow!" She whimpered, falling slightly onto her back. Her ribs hurt so fucking bad that she once again couldn't breathe, leaving her gasping for air as tears slid down her temple and caught in her hair.
